Behind a strip of warehouses on the east side of El Segundo, chain-link fencing surrounds a storage site filled with trucks, a smattering of old boats and dozens of recreational vehicles.

No one is supposed to be living in this gritty lot behind Douglas Street, which is accessible by a private road that crosses train tracks.

But city officials say a recent call to police led them to determine some RVs were occupied, in violation of local land-use rules.

Communities around the South Bay and the city of Los Angeles are struggling with how to deal with RV dwellers who camp out overnight on local streets, prompting complaints about inadequate parking and sometimes health and safety concerns. In an incident that attracted headlines last month, Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said he intended to file criminal charges against a motor home dweller in Venice who was accused of dumping raw sewage into the street.

In El Segundo’s case, the area in question is designated as an outdoor recreational vehicle storage facility in a light industrial zone east of Plaza El Segundo. But habitation isn’t allowed, as El Segundo doesn’t have any designated mobile home parks.

“The city’s concerned about people living in their motor homes without sewage hookups, electricity hookups, water hookups,” said El Segundo code enforcement officer John Sellens, who inspected the lot Tuesday and gave the operator a Thursday deadline to ensure no one was violating the rules.

At the inspection, Sellens said he was told by a representative of California Storage Masters, the site’s operator, that five RVs were formerly occupied, and that one remaining dweller would be moving out.

On Wednesday, however, several people were seen lingering in the lot. At least four RVs visible from a perimeter fence showed signs of life, as doors were open, or cars were parked next to them, and at least one vehicle was leveled with its satellite dish raised. Cables and wires, presumably used for television and electrical hookups, could be seen along the exterior fence line leading into parked vehicles.

Seann Murphy, who manages the site for California Storage Masters, said Thursday he’d asked RV dwellers to move on and that “everybody’s been told you can’t live here.”

“When you have a storage lot, it’s an issue that can creep up. With the economic situation like it is, I think a lot of people … they have no choice,” he said. “There were several that I had to ask to leave. I believe they have some vehicles stored, but they’ve been told they can’t live on the property.”

Certain owners were allowed access to electricity to work on their vehicles, Murphy added. But he said the practice now will be “supervised” to prevent future problems.

According to Sellens, the facility caught the city’s attention after police were called to the area in early September to respond to a fight.

On Sept. 14, Sellens said he sent a notice to the owners concerning rules about living in motor vehicles. El Segundo, like other local cities, generally responds to code enforcement violations only as complaints are logged.

“This case remains open,” Sellens said, “and if they don’t comply, myself and one of the officers advised the owner that he would be subject to citations if it continues.”

California Storage Masters filed an application with the city in 2005 to expand its storage facility onto property off private Chapman Way, part of which required environmental cleanup, a city planning document states.

A spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency could not offer much information on the site’s history, but said it was monitored for groundwater contamination. Progress reports filed in 1995 with the EPA and Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board indicate a cap was placed over soil and slag in the area.